Wednesday, November 20, 2013

I
recently attended a day conference sponsored by the Las Vegas Romance Writers.
Angela James of Carina Press gave a class, “Before You Hit Send.”
Witty and informative, Angela told the group what she looks for as an editor.
While I’m an advocate of removing weak adverbs and as many “Was” words as
possible, that didn’t bother her as long as the story was strong. She also
shared tips when writing with Microsoft Word.

I
watched group during the presentation. The younger members smiled as they
agreed, seasoned writers cast a narrow glance at the energetic speaker.

What
I took away from the presentation: Read the published books from the company
where you plan to submit your manuscript. Get a feel for what they print.
Writing is a commercial venture. Publishers will only accept what their company
sells. Keep your manuscript tight. Don’t wander off on side stories (my
problem) and make sure every scene and chapter move your story forward. Also,
readers tend to skip pages where the writer adds paragraphs of description.
Keep it short and to the point. Don’t give a complete resume of your
characters, but sprinkle your descriptions throughout your story.

Watch
for the release of, “HIDDEN JOURNAL,” in January from Tirgearr Publishing. You
can go to their web site for more information on my book and those from
Tirgearr’s other authors.

I recently gave
a presentation on writing Deep Point Of View. I stressed the importance of
using strong verbs and eliminating distancing adverbs and adjectives. Example:
She walked quietly…she slipped into the room. Or: He thought he should call her…he
called her. She felt sick…nausea bubbled in the back of her throat. She was
going to the mall…she drove to the mall.

Simple hints,
but they make a world of difference in your manuscript.

I finished a
novel written by a well-established romantic suspense writer. She used the word
was thirteen times on one
page. To add to the distraction, she started sentences with: There was, instead
of addressing the action and in one long compound sentence, used the word was three times. It’s difficult
to explain to new writers how this passes editors. I tell them that if you want
your manuscript to emerge from the slush pile, follow the rules and tighten
your writing. Know the rules before you attempt to break them.

Another
distraction is the over use of your character’s names. If you have two characters
in one scene, introduce them once and allow the dialogue to flow without
constantly adding the tags, “John said, Mary said, John said, Mary said.”

Example:

“Hand me the
peanuts,” John said.

“Here,” Mary
said.

“Thanks,” John
said.”

Okay, so that’s terrible
dialogue. How about writing…

“Hand me the
peanuts,” John said.

Mary pushed the
bowl across the table. “They’re salty. Do you want a glass of water?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

The reader
immediately knows who’s speaking without all of the tags.

Another example:

John headed out
the front door. Late for work again, John rushed to the bus stop.

The reader
already knows John is the POV character in the scene. Don’t overuse his name.
You can spice up the scene by showing emotion. Did the character sweat? Did he
trip down the steps? Did he arrive in time to see the bus pull away?Add these emotions if it pushes the scene
forward.

No matter what
your write, put yourself in your main character’s head. Feel what he/she feels.
( but don’t say, “he felt.” Show that emotion.)